A NOVEL INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN MODEL FOR MILITARY ACADEMIES: VALIDITY EVIDENCE FROM GENDARMERIE OFFICER CADETS

Integrating military training with academic education at military academies presents a significant challenge. Consequently, officer cadets often develop skills and academic abilities through separate learning tracks. This disjointed approach can hinder their capability to apply both domains cohesively in real-world contexts. To address this, an innovative integrated instructional design model was developed to align military training and academic education. A mixed methods study was conducted to gather validity evidence for this model, involving surveys and focus group sessions with officer cadets of the ROYAL NETHERLANDS MARECHAUSSEE (i.e. a Gendarmerie Corps) at the NETHERLANDS DEFENCE ACADEMY. The findings of this study indicate that this integrated instructional design model successfully fulfills the requirements of both military training and academic education, and they provide insights for its potential implementation. Future research could explore the model’s applicability in other professional domains, such as police education, where similar integration challenges exist.